Posts tagged ‘ratrace’

We live in a strange world. We have all the resources available to make it radically better if we would want to, and yet we are all stuck in a kind of rat race culture, picking on each other for mainly egoistic reasons. This leads to dumb strategies like Planned Obsolescence. It’s well-known in many industries and is in fact nothing more than a ‘trick’ to force customers to buy new products, even if the old ones are still ok. In terms of LEAN thinking, it’s a pure waste! And what’s even worse is that those that can afford buying new products way before they are true end-of-life will buy them, which forces the people who don’t have that buying power to buy the cheaper ‘previous’ versions. This is a huge, hidden market. It makes the rich richer, and the poor poorer. It separates humanity instead of the opposite way: trying to empower each other towards a life where there is joy, happiness and abundance for all. It can be done. It only needs a mindset shift. And this is totally free. What’s holding you back to shift you mind from planned obsolescence to planned sustainability? You can do it. You only need the power of your thoughts. Good luck, and for some more inspiration on this topic you can watch this video about a modular concept for phones that breaks the planned obscolescence loop. A nice example!

Like this:

Lao Tzu was well aware of the difference between flow and joining the ratrace when de devised as follows “Act without expectation. No seeking, not expecting. Be present, welcome all things. Those who flow with Life flows know they need no other force. Nature doesn’t hurry, yet everything is accomplished. Be still, just remain in the centre, watching; and then forget you are there. Stillness reveals the secret of eternity.”

And what about this quote (source unknown): “I am in competition with no one. I run my own race. I have no desire to play the game of being better than anyone, in any way, shape, or form. I just aim to improve, to be better than I was before. That’s me and I’m free”.

So stop Chasing Illusions! Rat race competition is no good for humanity, only makes things worse. Cooperation is much better. Slow down the rat race and start enjoying the ride. You can think of enjoying this ride using metaphors.

Metaphor 1 (ratrace) is: always take the ‘next moment’ rat race rollercoaster, embrace the carrot/stick illusion, work harder for more money and fake happiness, get more greedy and work even harder and finally find out it doesn’t bring you real happiness, only more worries. You are constantly looking forward to the next moment of (illusionary) happiness, and constantly looking around you what your competitors are doing. There is no time for quietness, relaxation, real happiness.

Metaphor 2 (flow) is: you can ride the ‘now moment’ rollercoaster and enjoy the ‘now’ ride. You forget about having to race with your competitors. Because you know competing is in fact a dumb action, a waste of time and in the end only leads to greediness. So it’s up to you to decide which rollercoaster to take.